Expert Analysis
4/25/24
4 min read
Quinyon Mitchell 2024 NFL Draft: Combine Results, Scouting Report For Philadelphia Eagles CB
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Quinyon Mitchell.
Quinyon Mitchell's 2024 NFL Combine Results
- Height: 6'0"
- Weight: 195 pounds
- 40-yard dash: 4.33 seconds
- 10-yard split: 1.51 seconds
- Vertical jump: 38"
- Broad jump: 10'2"
Quinyon Mitchell 2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Strengths
- Good sized outside corner with quick feet and smooth fluid movement. At times, he looked sudden and twitchy.
- High-level traits with desirable size/length/speed/physicality/competitiveness profile. He looks the part.
- Played significant snaps in off-coverage man to the field with no help and showed explosive plant and drive.
- Plant and drive was the foundation of his game. He is sudden and explosive, reading routes and driving on throws.
- Made a high percentage of his ball production plays (PBUs, interceptions) from off coverage, driving on throws.
- He has snaps of press man coverage where he matches the receiver through the route, working into the body to disrupt the catch point.
- Significant snaps of mirror match and physical press man showing easy transition and strong jams off LOS.
- Excellent feel for timing the ball on intermediate and deeper routes and getting his hand into the catching zone.
- Top-end speed to run with vertical routes and remain in phase to play the ball. He has good vertical burst and acceleration.
- Explosive short-area burst to close on intermediate and vertical routes. He has a snap to his movement with suddenness.
- Overall, his sudden plant and drive burst to close, and his physicality at the catch point consistently stood out.
- Competitive and physical as a tackler. He played with burst and balance. His transition to pursuit is quick and explosive.
Weaknesses
- At times, he got caught in off-man turning to run vs. vertical stems, resulting in slower transitions and reactions.
- There were off-coverage snaps in which his feet got stuck, and he was not in a good position to open and run.
- In off-coverage, he can be a little stiff and segmented when opening his hips in transition to run with vertical routes.
- There were some snaps in mirror-match press man when he got caught on his heels, negatively impacting hip turn and transition.
- Will need to improve playing press man coverage. He needs technique work with his feet and better strike timing.
NFL Transition
Mitchell is one of the most athletically gifted corners in the draft with his desirable size/speed/physicality/ competitiveness profile. While Mitchell did not play at a Power 5 school and some might see that as a negative, it is evident from his 2023 tape that he has all the physical and movement traits demanded to play outside corner in the NFL at a high level.
Mitchell has excellent size and a well-built frame to match up to the bigger receivers. His light, quick feet and sudden movement traits are those of a high-level corner prospect. What consistently stood out with Mitchell was his explosive downhill plant and drive from off coverage, which he predominantly played in Toledo’s defense.
Plus, his physicality at the catch point with outstanding timing to get his hand(s) on the ball and knock it out of the receiver's hands. Where Mitchell needs work as he transitions to the NFL is playing press man coverage, which he did not major in at Toledo. Therefore, he lacks the needed experience and consistent technique to step and play it well at the next level.
There is no question Mitchell has the physical, athletic and mental toughness traits to play press man, but it will be a process with a bit of a learning curve, especially vs. higher-level receivers. Still, he could end up being a better press man corner than off-coverage and bail corner with his traits profile.
Overall. Mitchell has all the needed traits to develop into a high-level NFL outside corner, and I expect he will come off the board in the first round.
Other Notes
Mitchell played four years at Toledo, starting his final three seasons. He was a consensus Second Team All-American in 2023 and First Team All-MAC in 2022 and 2023. Mitchell came out of Florida as a 3-star recruit with Illinois as the only Power 5 school that offered him a scholarship
Against Illinois, Mitchell played off coverage man on almost every snap. He played almost exclusively to the field with inside leverage and did not have safety help over the top. He played predominantly to the field in 2023, but there were significant snaps to the boundary, too. There were snaps versus 1x3 sets in which Mitchell played deep safety or aligned in off coverage vs. No. 3 to trips
On the first play of the game vs. San Jose State, Mitchell from his predominant off-coverage alignment, was beaten on a sluggo. He drove on the slant element and couldn't recover over the top
Mitchell deployed as a blitzer at times when aligned in press position to the boundary
What consistently stood out watching Toledo’s defense was Mitchell was asked to match up man-to-man without safety help over the top. He was essentially playing zero-man predominantly from off-coverage alignments.
